Riley Gaines Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Riley Gaines Act creates a federal civil action when an institution of higher education or athletic association negligently or recklessly permits a biologically male student athlete to compete in an athletic competition intended exclusively for female student athletes and a female student athlete is physically injured because of the inherent physiological advantages described in the bill. A prevailing plaintiff may recover damages, including the value of a lost scholarship or professional opportunity, in federal district court, and the court must award reasonable attorney fees to a prevailing plaintiff.
Who Benefits and How
Female student athletes benefit from a new federal lawsuit when they are physically injured in the covered competition setting, with damages that can include lost scholarship or professional opportunities. Plaintiff attorneys benefit from mandatory fee awards for prevailing plaintiffs. Advocates for sex-separated female athletics gain a federal enforcement mechanism against schools and athletic associations.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Institutions of higher education and athletic associations face liability risk, litigation costs, and pressure to change eligibility or competition policies. Transgender women athletes may face exclusionary effects because schools may respond by tightening participation rules for female-only competitions. Federal courts must hear these private damages suits.
Key Provisions
- Creates a federal civil action for physically injured female student athletes in covered female-only competitions.
- Allows damages against institutions of higher education and athletic associations that negligently or recklessly permit covered participation.
- Includes lost scholarship or professional opportunity value in recoverable damages.
- Requires federal courts to award reasonable attorney fees to prevailing plaintiffs.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Creates a federal damages action for female student athletes physically injured after a school or athletic association negligently or recklessly permits a biologically male athlete to compete in a female-only competition.
Key Policy Areas
Education, Civil Rights, Sports
Primary Purpose
Creates a federal damages action for female student athletes physically injured after a school or athletic association negligently or recklessly permits a biologically male athlete to compete in a female-only competition.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Female student athletes
- Plaintiff attorneys
- Sex-separated athletics advocates
Identified Costs
- Institutions of higher education
- Athletic associations
- Transgender women athletes
- Federal courts
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in House
Mr. McGuire introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Athletic associations, Female student athletes, Institutions of higher education
Positive-direction: Female student athletes
Negative-direction: Athletic associations, Institutions of higher education
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "court"
- → Federal district court
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology